Mobile Coupons & Your Local Business: How Do Mobile Coupons Work?

Have you watched television lately? Searched on the internet? If you have, you will probably notice that the most prominent advertising campaigns involve mobile technology like cell phone and tablets. People take these items with them everywhere; they take them to work, school, the mall, and even the beach! The use of mobile devices over the past decade has seen a massive increase, and it is time for your business to take advantage of mobile marketing.

There are a variety of effective ways mobile marketing can be used for your local business, and the one we will focus on is mobile coupons. Remember cutting coupons out of your local paper, or tearing them from print ads? Those days are all but over. Now, customers are able to use the mobile devices they carry with them to access deals, time-sensitive specials, and premium offers. In this way, mobile coupons are one of the most effective marketing strategies for all businesses – both global, and local.

How do mobile coupons work? Well, first you must develop a database of customer contact information. In order to do this, your customers must allow your business to contact them by phone or email. Give customers a chance to join your business online by setting up a loyalty program. When they do, they become eligible to receive special offers and members-only discounts. This is just an example, but you can speak with your mobile marketing consultant to determine what is best for your business. Once this initial step is complete, you are on your way to building your customer base and increasing the buzz surrounding your business.

The next step is the mobile coupon campaign. Now that you can contact your customers instantly via cell phones and tablets, you can clue them in on special offers. Let’s look at a restaurant as an example. It is the middle of the week, business is slow, but the evening hours are approaching. As customers are leaving work, wondering where to have dinner, they get a text message from your restaurant. It notifies them of a buy one-get one free appetizer special, but the offer is only good until 7 pm. Your simple text message gave them the incentive to choose you over a competitor. That is the simple and effective nature of mobile coupons.

Getting customers in the door is the goal of mobile coupons. Once they have chosen your business, it is up to you to provide them with the products and services you specialize in. Mobile coupons will not solve all of your marketing needs, but they are an extremely easy and cost-effective way of reaching a massive audience almost instantly, wherever they are. Just like text messages, your mobile coupons will pop-up on the screens of customer phones and tablets. All they need to do is show the coupon to a customer service representative. It is that simple. If you are looking to incorporate mobile coupons in your local business, contact us today!